Therapist profile
Donna Altepeter, LCSW
Licensed Clinical Social Worker - Family and parenting focus
Continue with DonnaAbout
- Client-Centered Therapy
- Cognitive Behavioral tools
- Mindfulness practice
About Donna
Donna Altepeter is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) practicing in Wisconsin with 12 years of experience. She works with adults coping with stress, anxiety, grief, depression, parenting challenges, relationship and family concerns, and life changes.
Donna uses a client-centered approach and draws on cognitive behavioral techniques and mindfulness in sessions. She focuses on practical skills for managing mood, sleep, and day-to-day stress. She also brings experience addressing compassion fatigue, caregiving strain, addiction concerns, and intimacy-related issues.
Her background includes long experience in social work practice and many years teaching in a university social work program. That teaching work shaped her style - she sees therapy partly as learning together. Clients can expect clear explanations of ideas and chances to practice new ways of coping between meetings.
Donna describes therapy as a collaborative process. She pays attention to how people understand their own lives and helps them try different responses. She also works with issues that come up around serious illness, bereavement, end-of-life concerns, and caregiving.
People seeking help for anger, attachment issues, career transitions, or feelings of isolation may find her approach practical and straightforward. She integrates narrative techniques to help clients reframe their stories and motivational interviewing to support change steps. Sessions are conducted in English in Wisconsin, and international clients are not accepted.
How sessions work
Therapeutic approaches and online sessions
Donna often uses Client-Centered Therapy, which focuses on understanding each person’s experience and helping them lead the conversation. This approach supports work on relationships, parenting stress, and navigating life changes by prioritizing the client's perspective.She also draws on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to identify unhelpful thoughts and try new behaviors. CBT is useful for anxiety, depression, sleep problems, and coping with day-to-day stress. Mindfulness Therapy is another method she uses to help people notice their reactions, reduce reactivity, and build steady routines that ease tension.
Finding the right approach is part of the work. Donna collaborates with each person to choose techniques that fit their goals, needs, and preferences. She explains options and helps people try different strategies so they can see what helps in real life.
Confirm the available session formats before booking, as formats are not listed here. Online work can make it easier to fit appointments into a busy week, allow a shorter check-in when time is limited, or reduce travel time. The focus remains on practical skills and steady progress rather than on any specific technology or platform.
Areas of focus
Areas of expertise
Also works with
Additional focus areas
Therapeutic approaches
Experience
12+ years
Listed in
Wisconsin
Languages
English
Questions
Frequently asked questions
What kinds of home and family concerns does she address?
She helps adults with parenting stress, family relationship concerns, caregiving strain, and issues that affect household life such as grief and anger.
What style of therapy does she use?
She uses a client-centered approach with techniques from cognitive behavioral therapy, mindfulness, motivational interviewing, and narrative therapy to work on practical coping and perspective shifts.
How long has she been practicing?
Donna has 12 years of clinical experience as an LCSW in Wisconsin and earlier professional and teaching experience in social work.
What are her credentials and where is she based?
She is an LCSW licensed in Wisconsin and practices from that state.
Can non-English speakers work with her?
Sessions are offered in English.
Does she see international clients?
She does not accept international clients at this time.
How much do sessions cost and how are they billed?
Cost varies with location and sessions use a subscription that can be canceled at any time.
What do I do to start working with her?
Select the See online therapy options button, complete the short matching questionnaire, and schedule a first session.
Details come from information the therapist supplied to BetterHelp. A license can be checked with the state board.
Online talk therapy is not emergency care. If anyone is in danger, use the crisis numbers.